The action of squatting and then standing erect is one of the basic human muscular actions, and lifting and jumping movements in many sports depend upon a forceful and efficient performance of the squatting motion. Hence, squatting with a heavy bar bell across the shoulders behind the neck has been one of the most valued training exercises.
However, primarily because the weight is on top of the user, the bar bell squat has the disadvantages of an uncomfortable standing position, danger of injury, the necessity for assistance by others while training, inhibition of effort on the part of the user, and avoidance of the entire exercise by many potential users.
There are in the prior art some devices which are intended for doing squat lifts without the disadvantages of the bar bell squat, but these either have not solved all the problems of squat lifting or have created new ones. Generally, they comprise some method of fastening weighted devices to the body. By fastening weights to the body, of course, this precludes instanteous release of the weights to avoid danger of injury.